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January 3, 2017 (thedailybeast.com) Senator John McCain met with Ukrainian soldiers in the war-torn east of the country on Saturday, December. 31^st along with senators Lindsay Graham and Amy Klobuchar. McCain, who has been outspoken in his criticism of both Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in recent weeks, met with troops in the Ukrainian village of Shyrokyne, one of the towns worst hit by the ongoing conflict with Russia. 

“I saw that the cooperation between our countries is essential to ensuring the security of the borders of Ukraine. In 2017, we will defeat the invaders and send them back to where they came from. And I would like to tell Putin that he will never be able to deprive Ukrainians of freedom and independence,” McCain was cited as saying in the Ukrainian press. “Your struggle is our struggle,” he told Ukrainian troops. McCain’s words of support come as many Ukrainians fear Trump will shift all loyalty to Russia and drastically reduce aid to Ukraine, something his team already reportedly signaled it was preparing to do. Both McCain and Graham have pushed for harsher sanctions against Russia in recent days, even as Trump praises Putin for being “very smart.”